me being a friend on dc's myspace (just create a dummy account if you don't ahev one) so I can see dc's friends (and talk about them with dc if necessary) but not the e-mails. If dc's account is set to private, than there can't be random e-mails, just e-mail from her online friends, whose profiles I can view. I think dc's e-mails are private, but being able to view the profile means that if there is anything going on (bullying etc), I will be aware of it an able to talk about it

And yes, I do believe that parenting (I don't like the implications of the word "raising") a teen is very different from being a teen, having teen-age siblings, or reading about teens. I think living through most parenting experiences is very different from reading about them, or having been parented.

I think that is WAY to young for myspace. There is far to much CRAP on and out there that I would NOT won't my son seeing or even thinking about at 12, even 13. I know todays tweens and you teenagers are NOT the Sam as my generation which was not all that long ago. I know my mom would have said HELLLLLLLLLL NOOOOOOOOOO to myspace and yes I would have been furious and mortified and everyother part of teen angst that comes up between parnet and CHILD but now as an adult and a parnet I can see and respect the barriers that were placed on me as a CHILD. 12/13 is still a child I think and it is such a formable age. Good luck. I think the things I got the maddest at my mom about in retrospect were the most important and needed boundries. I am SOOO not looking forward to that age. Good luck again!

My opinion about the safety of the internet and whether MySpace is safe for teenagers and how to protect a teen onlinet isn't less valid because of my son's age. Taking care of and providing guidance to several teenage siblings may be different from parenting, but it does give you experience 'dealing with' teens. I don't have to have parented a teenager to remember what I was like as a teenager and what I probably needed from my parents. Parenting experience isn't the only valid basis for an opinion.

Isn't name calling against the UA as well? Why is it okay for you to insinuate that I am racist for using the word 'ghetto' but not for me to be sarcastic? You may not have come right out and said 'you are racist,' but you did state that my 'ghetto' comment had racist overtones--which would make me racist. Semantics. Your posts have a lot of sarcastic overtones, while not being overly sarcastic.

This discussion has been full of fallacies of logic and insinuations. First, the appeal to ignorance, then the red herring of racism, then the false analogy, & finally a dismissal of my opinion altogether based on my son's age. Maybe half of the discussion involved actual exchanges of opinions and points. What was the deal with responding to my statement that I don't think my kids need to be seeing penises all over the internet with the 'grain of salt' comment? Am I not allowed to be anti-kids-seeing-porn unless my child is a certain age? Why can't there ever just be a polite exchange of opinions and facts?

Heather, 25, single mom to Corbin, 5, and Orin, 3 Oh how I miss the days of